Objective:To observe the efficacy of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells on patients with advanced lung cancer. Methods:A total of 90 patients with advanced lung cancer were identified from January 2011 to December 2013. CIK therapy was given to 41 pa-tients in the observation group, whereas the other 49 patients in the control group received the best support treatments without che-motherapy or radiotherapy within one month of inclusion. Following up was conducted for the patients in the two groups, and KPS scores, median survival, and adverse reactions compared. Results:The KPS score in the observation group was higher than that of the control group after treatment (P=0.034). The median survival period of the observation group was eight months, which was one month longer than that of the control group (P=0.044). Major adverse reactions included fever, joint pain, and insomnia, which were recorded 51.22%, 36.58%, and 29.27%of occurrence, respectively. Conclusion:CIK cell therapy improved the quality of life and pro-longed the survival of advanced lung cancer patients with tolerable adverse reactions.

Silk fibroin is a natural polymer with certain water solubility, structural modification, good biocompatibility and biodegradability, which can be used as a drug delivery carrier material. As a promising drug delivery system, drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles can control drug release, reduce toxicity and improve therapeutic effects. In this paper, the basic characteristics of silk fibroin, the preparation methods of drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles and the application of silk fibroin in nanoparticulate drug delivery systems are reviewed, and on this basis, the further development of drug-loaded silk fibroin nanoparticles is prospected.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of low-flux polysulphone membranes on the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, hyper-sensitivity C reactive protein (hsCRP), lipoprotein (a) [Lp (a)], and beta2 microglobulin (beta 2MG) in hemodialysis patients.

METHODSThe blood samples and dialysate samples were collected at pre-dialysis, 120 minutes later during the session, and post-dialysis in 27 stable hemodialysis patients. Variables determined included serum Lp (a), hsCRP, interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, and beta 2MG. The endotoxin levels were also detected.

RESULTSThere were no significant changes either in endotoxin level of dialysate or in all variables tested during one session (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONLow-flux polysulphone membrane has no effects on serum Lp (a), hsCRP, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and beta 2MG during one session in hemodialysis patients.

Adult ; Aged ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Lipoprotein(a) ; blood ; Male ; Membranes, Artificial ; Middle Aged ; Polymers ; Renal Dialysis ; Sulfones ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of subgingival scaling/root planning (SRP) and occlusal adjustment on clinical and occlusal parameters in teeth with chronic periodontitis and secondary occlusal trauma.

METHODSEighteen patients with chronic periodontitis and occlusal trauma were included and randomly divided into group A and group B. On day 0, group A was treated by full-mouth subgingival scaling and root planning, and group B was treated by occlusal adjustment in occlusal trauma site. On day 28, group A was treated by occlusal adjustment in occlusal trauma site, and group B was treated by full-mouth subgingival scaling and root planning. Probing depth (PD), attachment loss (AL), bleeding index (BI) were evaluated on 0, 28 and 56 d, and the occlusal time (OT) and the percentage of occlusal force were evaluated on 0, 28 and 56 d in occlusal trauma site. The data was statistically analyzed.

RESULTSIn baseline, the PD[(4.42 ± 1.41) mm vs (4.36 ± 1.38) mm], AL [(2.75 ± 1.32) mm vs (2.63 ± 1.37) mm] and BI [(2.20 ± 0.81) vs (2.24 ± 0.89)] of the full-mouth showed no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference in PD [(5.21 ± 1.21) mm vs (5.08 ± 1.12) mm], AL [(4.94 ± 1.47) mm vs (4.89 ± 1.32) mm], BI [(2.61 ± 0.92) vs 2.50 ± 0.79)], OT [(1.29 ± 0.39) s vs (1.34 ± 0.35) s] and the percentage of occlusal force [(6.8 ± 2.1)% vs (7.4 ± 1.7)%] in occlusal trauma site between the two groups(P > 0.05). After SRP therapy, the PD,AL,BI and OT were significantly decreased (P < 0.05).The clinical parameters exhibited no significant difference after only occlusal adjustment(P > 0.05).On 56 d, the reduction in clinical parameters was not significantly different between the two groups(P > 0.05),however the reduction of OT and the change of the percentage of occlusal force in group A [(0.85 ± 0.41) s, (2.2 ± 2.2)%] were more significant than those in group B [(0.70 ± 0.38) s; (1.5 ± 1.6)%] (P < 0.05). After occlusal adjustment, the increase of OT in group A [(0.21 ± 0.11) s] was lower than that in group B [(0.67 ± 0.37) s]through the 28-day observation period (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSOcclusal adjustment alone is inadequate for control and management of periodontitis.SRP therapy can eliminate the inflammation and decrease the OT of tooth with occlusal trauma.The combination of SRP and occlusal adjustment may achieve more stable results.

Adult ; Aged ; Bite Force ; Chronic Periodontitis ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Dental Occlusion, Traumatic ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Dental Scaling ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occlusal Adjustment ; Periodontal Attachment Loss ; therapy ; Periodontal Index ; Root Planing

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of low salt (LS) on the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the activity of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1) in the mouse macula densa derived (MMDD1) cell line.

METHODSMMDD1 cells were transfected with luciferase reporter plasmid containing AP-1 or NF-kappaB. Luciferase reporter assay was used to evaluate the effect of normal salt (NS) and low salt (LS) on the activities of NF-kappaB and AP-1. The changes of COX-2 expression were examined by RT-PCR. The expression of p-p38 MAPK, p-p44/42, c-Jun, c-Fos, and COX-2 in MMDD1 cells were analyzed by Western blot.

RESULTSThe expressions of COX-2 mRNA and protein in MMDD1 cells were significantly increased by LS (P < 0.01). Phosphorylated p38 and p44/42 MAP kinase were significantly increased by treatment at 180 min (P < 0.01). The up-regulated COX-2 protein expression with LS were significantly reduced with SB 203580 (p38 inhibitors) and PD-98059 (p44/42 inhibitors) (P < 0.01). The expressions of c-Jun and c-Fos were increased by LS. The luciferase activities of AP-1 and NF-kappaB were stimulated in LS (P < 0.01), the up-regulated luciferase activities were attenuated by PDTC at 25 micromol/L (NF-kappaB inhibitor) and curcumin at 20 micromol/L (AP-1 inhibitor) (P < 0.01). LS altered COX-2 mRNA abundance and protein expression were decreased in treatment with PDTC at 25 micromol/L, curcumin at 20 micromol/L (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONLS can induce the expression of COX-2 in MMDD1 cells, which may be involved in the activation of p38 MAP kinase, p44/42 kinase, AP-1, and NF-kappaB pathways.

Animals ; Cell Line ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; metabolism ; Kidney ; cytology ; metabolism ; Mice ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Transcription Factor AP-1 ; metabolism

A highly sensitive, rapid and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry(LC-MS/MS) method for the quantitative determination of retinamido-ester in rat plasma was developed and validated. A simplified protein precipitation with acetonitrile was employed for the sample preparation.The separation was carried out on an Agilent TC C18 column ( 150 mm×4. 6 mm ID, 5 μm particle size)with the mobile phase consisted of methanol-water-formic acid (93 : 7 : 0.1). Simvastatin was used as internal standard. The detection was performed on a trap-quadrupele tandem mass spectrometer by selected reaction monitoring (SRM) scan mode via atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). The range of and inter-day precision values were between 95.97% and 104. 43%, and RSD was between 4. 63% and 10. 69%, respectively. This method was applied to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters. The main pharmacokinetic parameters of retinamido-ester after oral administration via gastric gavage of 2. 5, 5, 10mg·kg-1 were as follows,T1/2;(11.28±7.23),(8.90±3.82),(8.01±5.56)h; AUC0-∞:(103.41±61.46),(190.23±74.99),(421.66±299.20)ng·h·mL-1;MRT:(6.31±0.75),(5.98±0.71), (6.18±0.97) h; CL/F: (30. 10 ± 13.67), (29.58±10.59), (31.18 ±17.51)L·h-1·kg-1;Vd/F:(414.94±159.82),(356.16±139.85),(369.28±322.73)L·kg-1,respectively.

OBJECTIVESeveral studies have suggested that non-diabetic renal disease (NDRD) was common among non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients with renal involvement.

METHODSThe prevalence of NDRD among Chinese NIDDM population in PUMC hospital center was retrospectively studied. Renal biopsy specimens were evaluated with light-, immunofluorescence- and electron-microscopy. The cohort consisted of 33 NIDDM patients who received renal biopsy.

RESULTSPatients with both isolated diabetic nephropathy (DN, n = 7) and NDRD (n = 22) had comparable duration of DM, creatinine clearance, serum creatinine, albumin and 24 hours proteinuria, as well as incidences of retinopathy, neuropathy and hypertension. Significantly more patients with NDRD had haematuria (P = 0.030) or non-nephrotic proteinuria (P = 0.016). IgA nephropathy accounted for 40.9% of the NDRD identified.

CONCLUSIONSIn this study, haematuria and non-nephrotic proteinuria predicted the presence of NDRD among NIDDM patients complicated with renal disease. IgA nephropathy is the most frequent type of NDRD in Chinese.

Adult ; Aged ; Biopsy, Needle ; Cohort Studies ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; pathology ; Female ; Glomerulonephritis ; complications ; pathology ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; complications ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on cytokines in the cardiac surgical patient and to evaluate the application of combined acupuncture anesthesia to cardiac surgery.

METHODSThirty patients with atrial septal defect were divided into 3 groups, general anesthesia group (A), acupuncture anesthesia group (B) and combined general anesthesia and EA group (C). Peripheral blood samples were collected before anesthesia, before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), 30 min after CPB and 24 h after operation to determine the levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), interleukin-2 (IL-2), IL-6 and IL-10.

RESULTSThe levels of IFN-gamma and IL-2 decreased in the 3 groups after CPB and further decreased 24 h after operation, and in the group C were higher than those in the group B. The levels of IL-6 and IL-10 significantly increased 24 h after operation in the 3 groups with no significant difference among the 3 groups.

CONCLUSIONThe general anesthesia combined with EA can not completely improve the decrease of IFN-gamma and IL-2 induced by CPB, indicating that the good response of the general anesthesia combined with EA to stress can partially improve the immunosupression induced by CPB. Acupuncture does not have significant effect on inflammatory cytokine reaction induced by cardiac surgery.

Acupuncture Analgesia ; Adult ; Cardiac Surgical Procedures ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; Interleukin-10 ; blood ; Interleukin-2 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUNDPeroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) alpha is one of the subtypes of PPARs. It regulates metabolism of lipid and lipoprotein, as well as glucose homeostasis. In addition, PPARalpha influences cellular proliferation, inflammation, differentiation and apoptosis, which plays a vital role in cardiovascular diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role and mechanisms of PPARa activation in relation to acute myocardial damage induced by isoproterenol in rats.

METHODSThirty male Wister rats were randomly divided into control group, isoproterenol (Iso) injured group and fenofibrate (FF) treatment group. Acute myocardial damage caused by isoproterenol intraperitoneal injection induced ischemia was established. We determined the levels of creatine kinase (CK) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum as well as the concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA) in serum and myocardium. The mRNA expressions of PPARa, muscular type carnitine palmitransferase (M-CPT-I) and medium chain lipid acetyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (MCAD) were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the levels of serum CK and LDH were significantly increased after FF and Iso treatments. Moreover, the concentrations of FFA in both serum and myocardium were obviously increased in the Iso group and FF group, while the mRNA expressions of PPARalpha, M-CPT-I and MCAD declined, respectively (P < 0.01). When compared with the Iso group, significant decreases in serum CK and LDH were observed in the FF group. The concentrations of FFA both in serum and myocardial tissue were markedly decreased in the FF group, while the expressions of PPARalpha, M-CPT-I and MCAD mRNA were increased (vs. Iso, P < or = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe utilization of FFA was reduced in isoproterenol induced acute myocardial damage. PPARalpha activation by its activator fenofibrate may play a key role in energy metabolism in acute myocardial damage induced by isoproterenol in rats.

Animals ; Creatine Kinase ; blood ; Energy Metabolism ; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified ; metabolism ; Fenofibrate ; pharmacology ; Heart ; drug effects ; Isoproterenol ; toxicity ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Male ; PPAR alpha ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

To perform a systemic review and meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of PET (CT) and metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for diagnosing neuroblastoma (NB),electronic databases were searched as well as relevant references and conference proceedings.The diagnostic accuracy of MIBG and PET (CT) was calculated for NB,primary NB,and relapse/metastasis of NB based on their sensitivity,specificity,and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUSROC) in terms of per-lesion and per-patient data.A total of 40 eligible studies comprising 1134 patients with 939 NB lesions were considered for the meta-analysis.For the staging of NB,the per-lesion AUSROC value of MIBG was lower than that of PET (CT) [0.8064±0.0414 vs.0.9366±0.0166 (P＜0.05)].The per-patient AUSROC value of MIBG and PET (CT) for the diagnosis of NB was 0.8771±0.0230 and 0.6851±0.2111,respectively.The summary sensitivity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.79 and 0.89,respectively.The summary specificity for MIBG and PET (CT) was 0.84 and 0.71,respectively.PET (CT) showed higher per-lesion accuracy than MIBG and might be the preferred modality for the staging of NB.On the other hand,MIBG has a comparable diagnosing performance with PET (CT) in per-patient analysis but shows a better specificity.